So, I’m back from Florida.

I felt back sometime during Thanksgiving that I really wanted to go to the U.S. again, specifically this time to see my good friends Dan and Anna-Cajsa. So, I booked a flight and went there in early January, and stayed for about a week.

Overall, nice experience. Florida, by now, feels about as exciting as going to Falköping; still, it’s nice to be there in 70 degrees and sunshine. The time was mostly spent hanging around the house with their two little daughters, and going to either Wal-Mart or any of the fast-food places (Dip-in Donuts, Sonic, Captain D’s, Taco Bell… you name it).

I took some pictures, not that many, but a few.

This is where Dan and Anna-Cajsa live, in a nice little house just off the street from the hospital. It’s a nice, rather quiet street, and the house has several rooms, including an office, where I slept. Dan could sometimes be seen on the veranda, busy on the phone as usual, negotiating real estate.

Dan has several vehicles. This truck is, as American custom is, the biggest and baddest set of wheels ever. It’s a Ford F-350 super-duty, and it call pull a house off its foundation if you wrap a chain around it.

Bob came down from… North Carolina, or possibly Tennessee (?) … to sell his Jeep Cherokee. It was nice to see him again. He stayed for a week and left the day after I did, but in the meantime, we drove all over town, talked, ate donuts, and went to Wal-Mart.

I wonder if this is the same thing as our Ice Cream truck in Sweden. I can just see it going down the neighborhood block with a jingly little tune… “ooh, come kids, it’s the Doritos truck!” :)

Making the cars look good is very important. Before selling Bob’s jeep, we took them for a wash at a washing station, where you deposited coins into machines and power-washed your car. I had to take a picture of this little machine though. It’s a vacuum machine, but with additional fragrances that you could put into the car as you vacuumed it. Only in the United States can you vacuum your car and have it smell like Piña Colada when it’s done.

We played a little miniature golf too. American miniature golf is really nice usually, since they put a lot of effort into the course, with different lighting, water, moving items and so forth. This was pretty new, but still enjoyable. Please pay no attention to the gorilla butt in the distance.

All in all, Marianna, FL is probably not the place I would pick for my dream vacation. I think the highlight of the city is actually the Wal-Mart Supercenter. But, seeing my American friends again, was a good experience.